It’s almost a given these days that when a weak state in a strategic region faces serious Islamist foes, their neighbors and global partners promptly swing in with military support. Whether fond of Iraq’s regime or not, almost every country in the region rapidly sent aid or military support to fight the Islamic State after they started seizing territory. Even in West Africa, in 2013 the rise of Islamists in Mali led to the rapid deployment of troops from neighboring Burkina Faso and Chad, alongside a strong contingent from France. It’s a questionable norm—one worth debating—but it might have saved a lot of bloodshed in ill-equipped and hard-hit Nigeria. Yet such support materialized late in the game against Boko Haram, and only at low levels.

Niger Foreign Minister Mohamed Bazoum recently admitted as much, declaring that Boko Haram’s current power “reflects our slowness and our inability [as a region] to put up a robust response.”

This slowness to act decisively, even after international summits like one held last May, has nothing to do with a lack of clarity about Boko Haram’s regional threat, or a nefarious incentive to hold back. It stems from deep-seated and unfortunate mistrust between these regional nations.

Nigerian commentators are similarly wary of Chad, which has now stepped in, but held back much longer than it did in Mali two years ago. The tensions may not be as strong between these two nations as they are between Cameroon and Nigeria, but a general sense of mistrust certainly has hampered a more robust response over the past year from everyone involved.

This mistrust, even after Baga, weighs heavily upon future military actions. We’re not even sure now what sort of support the neighboring nations will provide Nigeria in its new push against Boko Haram. It’s possible that the spotlight of the massacre, the pressure on Nigeria to embrace Ghana’s multinational force proposal and Chad’s proactive support will force a great alliance that can finally beat back the militants. But it’s just as likely that as in May, pledges will collapse, leaving Nigeria largely on its own while the regional nations merely tend to their own borders.